BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Hi, I just bought a 02 R1150R with 30k mi. on it. My first couple of tanks of gas are running about 35/36 MPG. This is 75% city driving. Is this normal? The gas light came on at 144 miles, and I used 4.02 gallons of gas. Definitely not the range of an old R100 at 200+ a tank. What is everybody else getting in this type of driving. It had a 30K mile service about 800 miles ago. Thanks for the help. It's good to be back on a BMMMMR.

Sounds about right. I get somewhere about 140 to 150 miles when the light comes on. Every time I check my mileage it's about 38 to 40 mpg. The furthest I've gone on one tank is 170 miles. It's funny, my old 76' R60 with it's 6 1/4 gallon tank gets about 50 mpg.

My fuel warning light comes on like clockwork at about 160 miles. I consistently get 43-45 mpg in mixed driving using 93 octane.

i ride my 02 pretty hard and usually average in the low 30's.
i think it is more a function of how strong your right hand is....

I haven't needed to go over 5,000 rpm yet.

I haven't had my 04 long, (July) and I don't "flog" it, and my riding is very little city, (mostly twisties) but I generally get around 50-52 MPG. MY last ride was in the "hills" with some stop and go riding but mostly just nice mountain roads and when I stopped for fuel I had 183 miles on the tank with NO fuel light. I was able to add about 3.5 gallons.
Chris

If the low gas mileage continues, what could be the problem?

i think you're right on par. maybe slightly low, but not too horrendous. i've only had the R since sep, but i get right around 40mpg and my mix is 50/50 city streets and highways. so i think your mpg is right on.

45-50MPG 2004 R1150R

I get 45-46MPG all week long when commuting. I ride ~400 miles a week in hills and highway. I usually run 20 over on the highway and lately it has been in the high 20's and 30's on the ride in.

When I ride on the weekends with my wife, I get 50MPG and we usually run 55-60MPH in the hills and better two lane roads.

I run 87 octane, so you should be getting 45-50MPG in CA. I would look at the tune, tires and your riding style to help improve the mileage.

My 04 is a twin spark so it may get slightly better mileage, but I always get 200+ miles from a tank, even when running triples on the highway every once an a while to keep the carbon off the valves...

John

i have averaged about 43 mpg over the life of the bike (3+ years)...

when its all highway driving i get about 48mpg... when its mostly city riding it can go as low as 36 mpg so your number isnt that far off.

I converted all these from metric:

highway: 4.9L / 100km
city: 6.5L / 100km
average: 5.6L /100km

take it for a spin on the highway.

f4tweet wrote:I haven't needed to go over 5,000 rpm yet.

What RPM do you usually ride in? I generally keep the rpms at 4K give or take 200. And my gas light comes on at about 154 miles. My mileage is consistently at around 42-45 mpg. I've got a friend who's gas light consistently comes on at 120 miles. She's a bit happy with the right hand.

P

My fuel light comes on at 164 miles every time. Doesn't matter how hard or frugally I ride. 164...every time.

I cruise a little under 4K RPM. When I accelerate, I don't go over 4.5 K. I checked my tank yesterday, and with more road miles, I'm up to 37.8 mpg. I need to ride to Phoenix to check the road mileage. LOL.

I usually get around 40 mpg in my normal riding, which is riding the mountains enthusiastically! As to RPMs, for long stretches mine doesn't get under 4,000! But then my reason for riding has nothing to do with gas mileage. And I do like to use engine braking and not the brakes.

Long interstate runs at semi-legal speeds, I can bump 50 mpg.

Hmmmm.

My gas mileage is not much different that yours - city driving noted (02 R1150R). There is a LARGE difference between city driving and highway mileage. The stop-and-go really lowers the gas mileage. I average a bit less than 40mpg in city driving - and I can really tell if there is more stop-and-go between fill-ups. When I hit the highway for long rides (not just freeway riding, long open roads, even with some twisties), the mileage jumps to nearly 50mpg. Starting in '04 with the twin spark engines, the gas mileage improved significantly over the single spark models.

Today my gas light went on at 138 miles. I drove it to 166 and put 4.5 gallons in it. 36.9 MPG. That means I have a 180 mile range, MAX. I am trying to shift at/ or under 4K rpm. I need to run a tank on the freeway. If my highway mileage is near 37 mpg, what could be wrong? A friend said I'm actually lugging the engine, and should be around 4500 rpm most of thetime, as this is in the torque band. Any input folks?

I wonder if it could have anything to do with maybe Arnold putting something in ya'lls gas out there in Californy.

I have a 2002 with 40k purchased March 2009. It is about the same as yours, a low of 34 around town but I get 40mpg when travelling. But I think with a little TLC it might be possible to increase that a bit (maybe 10%) - in my case the idle is a tad high and I may be dragging a rotor ever so slightly on the pads - needs adjustment.

The R1150R seems to be a bit unusual in that more spirited riding often returns better fuel economy.

When my Roadster was actually on the road, the fuel warning light nearly always came on at about 130 miles in city/suburban riding. On the highway, especially at higher speeds (80 - 90 mph), the light came on much later, usally not until after 180 miles or so. In spirited riding in the hills of PA, it was usually somewhere between those 2 numbers for the indicator to come on. This translates into around-town mileage in the low to mid-30's, highway mileage in the high 40's and occasionally over 50, and fun-ride mileage in the high 30's to low 40's. There have actually been a couple of occasions where the trip odometer was in the 200+ mile area before I had a chance to refuel - high-anxiety territory, especially the first time.

So I guess my take is that the "normal" fuel useage numbers for the 1150 span a pretty wide range (30 to 50 miles per US gallon).

Charlie